[Advaita-l] How can one claim to know Brahman?

[Mahesh Ursekar]

Pranams:

An observation to reinforce Sanjay's point:
The word Upanishad in Sanskrit literally means 'sitting in close
proximity'  so I guess our seers knew that close association with a
Guru was inescapable for understanding this knowledge.

One other observation - Sanjays says:
>> If we do not have the luck of learning from a teacher, the luck is to be
>> created. 

While completely true, some sort of self effort in search of a Guru is
a must but one must not forget the dictum - you do not find a Guru,
the Guru finds you...or in other words, when you are ready, the Guru
will find you.

Regards, Mahesh


On Mon, 21 Mar 2005 13:09:48 +0000, Sanjay Srivastava
<sksrivastava68 at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> >On Mon, 21 Mar 2005 Sri Praveen wrote:
> 
> >Still, as usual, I'm going to say the same things that you know of, but its
> >only for you to reconsider your views *if* they say: reading/studying on
> >your own doesn't bring anything and living with the masters brings
> >everything!
> 
> IMHO, a modification is needed here. Reading/studying on your own cannot in
> fact bring anything and neither can just living with the masters. It is only
> reading/studying in guidance of a master that brings brahma-jnana. As far as
> reading/studying on one's own, Shankara himself pointed out the danger of
> trying to wade shabda-jAl-mahAraNyam through one's own reading and very
> explicitly prohibited brahma-enquiry on one's own: ShAstrajnopi swAtantreyNa
> brahma jnAnanusandhAna na kuryAt.
> 
> > > Since, only a few are blessed with this
> > > luck, we must resort to books and probably lists like this to clarify
> > > our understanding of the subtleites of Vedanata.
> >
> >So we're in unison.
> 
> If we do not have the luck of learning from a teacher, the luck is to be
> created. There is absolutely no escape. Resorting to books and lists like
> this to clarify our understanding, is fraught with serious danger. Doubts
> must be clarified only from a teacher who has got this knowledge and is
> versed in the method of vedanta. Books and lists like this can at best be an
> aid to learning from a teacher; they cannot be a substitute for it.
> 
> Chandra-shakha-nyaya embedded in the method of vedanta makes it incumbent
> upon the student to shift perspectives after reaching a certain level of
> understanding. How will a book or e-list decide your level of understanding?
> And how will you know when to change your perspective to reach closer to
> understanding? "Learning at the master's feet" is inescapable precisely due
> to this reason. Indispensability of a teacher arises from the shifting-gear
> teaching menthod of vedanta, not because of some mystical energy flow from
> the master to disciple,
> 
> Regards.
> 
> _______________________________________________
> want to unsubscribe or change your options? See:
> http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/advaita-l
> Need assistance? Contact:
> listmaster at advaita-vedanta.org
>